Since AEW launched in 2019, there have been many reports about WWE wrestlers about WWE stars working there.
AEW has signed some former WWE stars but many will go unsigned since there’s only a few spots available. Of course, they would likely make room for some top WWE stars and it turns out that many of them have reached out to AEW at one point or another.
Edge and Randy Orton are two names that had talks with AEW before they were offered massive WWE deals.
As noted earlier, Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that many top WWE stars have inquired about going to AEW and that includes some names that would deny it publicly.
Here is what Meltzer said about WWE stars who have made inquiries to AEW: “Roman Reigns is not going to AEW, not happening. Of all of the guys, virtually everybody in WWE including guys who have claimed different, at one point or another have called people in AEW trying to see what they can get or have had an interest. Roman Reigns and there’s a couple of others but Roman Reigns is basically, of the top guys, he was the only one who never even inquired so he ain’t going anywhere.”
Braun Strowman took issue with this after seeing an article from Heel By Nature on the subject.
Strowman told Heel By Nature contributor Jake that the story is “fake news” and he doesn’t “like being clickbait for lies.”
It is not a surprise that Strowman did not reach out to AEW because he signed a 5-year deal with WWE in July 2019, before it was announced that AEW Dynamite would debut on TNT. Many wrestlers reached out to AEW after hearing about Dynamite on TNT because, until then, many did not know for sure if the company was really going to get traction.
Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson are among those who chose not to sign AEW around that time because they were not sure about AEW at the time. Edge and Randy Orton are among those who spoke with people in AEW after they knew that Dynamite was real.
Check out the DM from Braun below.
Braun Strowman told @HeelByNatureYT that he has never reached out to AEW. pic.twitter.com/oeULGNcSTz
— Wrestling News (@WrestlingNewsCo) August 16, 2020
